“I just started withering away. I wasn’t getting enough vitamins or protein. (It was) very emotional.”

Back then, we thought those comments were a little odd — since Swank had been a vegetarian for 18 years without any apparent difficulties. Why the sudden shift?

We now have the answer. In an interview with You magazine, Swank says it was mercury poisoning that caused her to decline in health following her role in “Million Dollar Baby”.

“I put on 19 pounds of muscle. I was 29, I was a vegetarian and suddenly I was eating so much fish that I got elevated mercury problems. It plagued me for a couple of years after that movie. When I discovered that my health was suffering, I had to change my diet. So now I eat pork and beef.”

I’m not exactly sure what the best way to detox from mercury poisoning is, but Swank was obviously advised that going back to a vegetarian diet would potentially jeopardize that recovery. Still, it’s been over 7 years since the film and for someone who “doesn’t like eating meat”, I wonder if she could make the transition back?

What say you commenters? Anyone have experience with this?

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Lori Wheeler

I have a friend that had severe mercury poisoning from eating a lot of fish while living in Sweden. This wasn’t just her saying this but the doctor. She did not starting eating meat to make her better, she went vegan!